Microsoft,
on the other hand, is on much more tenuous footing, with its own
mobile market share in
shambles and its hopes solely pinned on this month's launch
of Windows Phone 7 (next month for U.S. customers). That
didn't stop its CEO Steve Ballmer from ripping into his Cupertino
rival in a recent
question and answer session with Ina Fried, writer
of CNET's "Beyond
Binary" column.

Mr. Ballmer replies,
"I think you clearly have a lot more variety than Apple has.
There's really only one choice in the Apple world. I think the
problem, if you don't have a minimum kind of standard […] the brand
means nothing to the user. Our brand means something to the user. It
means something to the developer. It implies a certain level of
consistency and high quality, which I think is important for the
Windows Phone."

Mr. Ballmer, who has in the past
derisively compared
Macs to Mac Trucks and said that Apple users pay
$500 extra for a logo, did begrudgingly admit that his fruity foe
is doing exceptionally well in the tablet sector. He comments,
"You certainly see more. You certainly see more than I would
like. One is more than I would like."

Despite recent
studies that show the iPad to be cannibalizing users' PC
time, Mr. Ballmer is confident that the tablet will not replace the
PC. He states, "Certainly someone who wants to sit and do
an interview and take notes and scroll around, they are unlikely to
find that device very comfortable. It doesn't stand up on its own. It
doesn't have a big screen and keyboard. I'm not taking anything away
from what Apple has done and certainly we have our work cut out for
us."

Mr. Ballmer refused to answer questions on how
Microsoft might match Apple's instant-on iPad capability and the
device's long battery life. He would only say that you would
see tablets "essentially
around the holiday", a little bit of an ambiguous statement,
to say the least. He was full of optimism and enthusiasm,
though, about Windows Phone 7.

After be docked
part of his bonus for the failure
of the Kin smartphone line, Mr. Ballmer is convinced the new OS
will be a hit with customers. He comments, "I think we're
moving fast. We've got to see how the market responds. I think we are
going to get great response to the new Windows Phones and that's the
key. If we get that done and we keep up the pace of good work that we
are doing, I feel pretty good."

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quote: it's a good thing MS never have an advertising team as good as apple. if it does, it might end up ruling the world...

No - I think you find that in order to beat Apple you need to have some better products.

The Windows phones were crap, and Apple made a better product and crushed it. Windows Phone 7 is better than what they offered before but they have a long way to catch up and if they do get traction it will probably be Android that feels the pinch.

The Windows tablets were crap and Apple is crushing them. This is more strategically challenging for MS than the phone wars. How do they come out with something that is better or cheaper than the iPad that doesn't undermine their core products which is Windows desktop?

Personally i'll take my winmo6 phone over an iphone any day. and i'll take a win7 tablet over ipad anyday as well.. i have more options and don't need to "jailbreak" my device just to use it the way i want too.

better is such a relative term. in my mind apple never build a better product than MS. MS product always have been the more powerful, more compatible, more customizable than anything apple has ever build. and in my mind that's the definition of better.

although no argument that apple do make a more polished product. but polished doesn't equal better.

too bad in today society people care more about looks and polish than versatility.

quote: How do they come out with something that is better or cheaper than the iPad that doesn't undermine their core products which is Windows desktop?

Auto-load WMC in full screen mode. It's already a fantastic interface for tablet devices. Or create a different overlay. Just because something has a touch screen doesn't mean it should only be designed for touch interface, especially if it has Bluetooth connectivity or a USB port.

WMC seems like a good idea, but it's tacked onto Windows XP or Windows 7, neither of which are capable of running on a tablet with decent battery life, or without a massive CPU to power it as well. Full blown Windows is simply not an option when it comes to anything mobile because it's become so bloated.

quote: The Windows phones were crap, and Apple made a better product and crushed it.

Why do you keep saying this? You generaly try to make a point based on some kind of facts and information that give you some credit. But that makes you sound too fanboish... and stupid.

We all know by now that the iPhone crushed everything else when it came out and matured. Thats ok, I can give Apple credits for that and I can say that Microsoft dropped the ball, got lazy and stupid and lost it's marketshare.

Windows Mobile phones were not crap. Far from it. It just got old and impracticle from a average consumers point of view. But for other types of user it was a workhorse and the only real alternative. We're talking that the iPhone has only 3 years in the market. How much time has the windows mobile (Well actually Windows CE OS) been out? It was intended to give a computer like experience in a hand held device. It had its flaws we all know them, but it was very advanced for its time, even being one of the only real "real time" OS. Now a days it suffers in comparison because they just didn't keep up with the times and thats MS fault.

"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer